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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

Football season ends on high note

Old Oaken Bucket Game

They were calling for him from the stands.

“Kofi!” they yelled to the senior wide receiver. Kofi Hughes had just played in his last IU game in a 56-36 win against Purdue.

A group of four students was still hanging over the student section wall yelling, “Kofi!”
Hughes jogged over to his fans with a smile. With his helmet in hand, he gave each of them a high five. He then threw up a piece of red plastic.

It was his mouth guard.

“Everybody was just stripping me for all the gear I had, and that was the last thing I had,” Hughes said. “So I just flung it up there.”

His fans were excited, “Wasn’t that awesome?” they yelled to each other, each looking at the mouth guard.

“I’m not going to use it,” Hughes said after the game.

Neither will his two fellow senior captains, tight end Ted Bolser and safety Greg Heban. Each played their last game as an Indiana Hoosier on Saturday.

“They’re going to walk out of here with their heads real, real high,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said after the game.

Hughes, a graduate of Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, caught his last touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

His six-yard grab gave IU the record for most points ever scored against Purdue and was the last Hoosier touchdown of the 2013 season.

IU’s previous touchdown was a two-yard pass caught by Bolser. The Cincinnati native finished his career with the most receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns of any tight end in IU’s 129-year history.

Heban didn’t have the positive play he was looking to end his career on. On Purdue’s last possession, with just more than a minute remaining, the Boilermakers were trying for one last score.

Purdue’s freshman quarterback Danny Etling lobbed a pass in the corner of the end zone, and Heban leapt for the interception.

“It went right through my hands,” he said chuckling. “So it’s definitely a play that I’ll always remember.”

The three seniors have been cornerstones for the IU program. Each of them started all 12 games this season.

During their four seasons, the program went a combined 15-33 (.313 winning percentage).

Twice they came within a victory of bowl eligibility, their freshmen and senior years, only to finish both seasons 5-7.

Heban, the senior leader, feels responsible for the defense’s struggles this year.

Despite not playing in January at any point in their careers, IU Coach Kevin Wilson thinks the group of seniors laid a strong foundation, starting with setting the tone for this Purdue win.

“In all my years coaching, this is probably as much fun and as much respect I’ve had with a group of players,” he said. “They’re going to be great Hoosiers.”

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